BETHELEHEM — Spotlight Newspapers, a weekly Capital Region newspaper group, is halting publication of its free Saratoga and Schenectady county editions, with Thursday being the final day after some 14 years.

Spotlight Publisher John McIntyre said the step was a financial decision forced by reduced local advertising, coupled with U.S. Postal Service rules that require the papers to be a minimum of 24 pages for an affordable mailing rate.

"It was not sustainable. Rather than continue to lose money (in Saratoga and Schenectady counties), we decided to focus on our bread and butter, Albany County," he said.

The Saratoga edition covered Clifton Park, Burnt Hills, Malta, Milton and Saratoga Springs, while the Schenectady edition focused on Scotia, Glenville, Niskayuna and Rotterdam. The decision to cease publication was announced in an editorial in both editions.

No staff reductions have been made yet, but McIntyre said cuts "are coming. We are working on it."

Both the Saratoga and Schenectady papers are part of a group that includes paid print editions that cover Colonie, Loudonville, Guilderland and Bethlehem. Those papers, whose origins date to 1955, are unaffected. McIntyre said the papers will shift some reporting resources to beef up coverage there.

In 2009, Spotlight Newspapers was purchased by Community Media Group LLC, a new company that included McIntyre, from Eagle Media LP, which had owned the company since 1998. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.